“Tom! Tom! Tom!” The audience called as he entered the stage. “Who wants to hear a story?” He called.

“Us!” The audience called back.

“Let’s begin.”

There once was a short man who was very bulky. Before he got his name, he was considered as nothing but a short person. So, he had done some serious training to bulk himself up. But at first glance, he looked the same. But his secret was hidden beneath his shirt. No one knew but those who saw him train. Every night he would travel around and challenge others to an arm wrestle but all he ever got replied was a “there’s no way you could beat me,” and then they would refuse his challenge. He then got sick of refusals. To attract their attention, he entered a championship. They had laughed at him saying he had no chance. But, they know not of his little secret. They did not know that he was better than the rest. The day had come. All the contestants lined up and got registered. When it came to his round, his competitors laughed at him saying he will get a humiliating defeat. They were amazed enough seeing him hold off his competitor. The competitor yelped in pain as he was not winning. The group who insulted him stared in astonishment as he moved to round 2. He walked into the waiting room looking proud with himself. Then another competitor called at him.

“Hey! Shorty, get over here!!” he called.

“What do you want fatty?” He replied, annoyed at the fact of how he was called.

“Don’t call me that shorty, I just want to ask you something.” He answered.

“And what will that be?” He replied.

“Was that really you or was that a fluke?” He asked.

“I guess it was skill perhaps,” he said smiling as he moved away. He then waited for his called for round 2. He then went to a snack seller and luckily for him, he sold salami. He bought a stick of salami and he snacked on it as it was his favourite snack and that he needed some protein. He munched on it happily until he was against someone named ‘The Ape’. He heard murmurs among the competitors like “he’s gonna lose,” as he exited the waiting area. ‘The ape’ was a formidable opponent as he nearly lost but in the last five seconds, ‘the ape’ had lost a bit of strength and then he took his chance and turned the tide and beat him. He was enraged by the loss that he had got and it took four umpires to calm him down. He demanded a rematch but he wasn’t given one. He stalked away angrily and was cursing as well. The winner was starting to get popular as ‘the ape’ was a slightly famous wrestler and he was beaten. The crowd was chanting his name has he exited the ring into the waiting room.